the March 4 hearing of the Senate Committee on Environ-
ment and Natural Resources (ENR). That proposed rezon-
ing as well as the designation of Goshen as a “regionally
signifi cant industrial area” by the state has caused concern
for land use advocates and others who have pointed to the
area’s nationally inventoried wetlands, lack of sewage ac-
cess and convoluted freeway access as barriers to develop-
ment.
Stewart and Cuyler traveled to Salem to support the
bill at the hearing, introduced at the request of the Senate
Interim Committee on Business, Transportation and Eco-
nomic Development for Lane County. The ENR commit-
tee questioned whether the bill should be narrowed to Lane
County, instead of being applied to the entire state. Stewart
said he would be fi ne with that.
Almost all waste from Lane County must go through
Hwy. 99 in Goshen to get to the landfi ll, Stewart said. He
told the committee that because of the proximity of Short
Mountain to Goshen, the increased tipping fee could be
used to help pay for an upgrade to the I-5 interchange or
addressing sanitation needs for Goshen redevelopment.
The current tipping fee is $147 for an uncovered load, $77
if covered, Cuyler said.
Mia Nelson of 1000 Friends of Oregon points out that
Stewart had previously told the R-G that “the county is de-
termined not to use public money to pay for the redevelop-
ment, requiring those who want to build on the site to add
infrastructure as they make improvements.”
And a Lane County spokesperson told EW in October
2012 that “Commissioner Stewart has stated that Lane
County doesn’t have the money to pay for the upgrades,
and that grants, federal and state funds could help pay for
the upgrades.”
Stewart says, “When I stated my determination, I didn’t
make any guarantees other than communicating my com-
mitment to both pursue family-wage jobs while making
that effort cost our community as little as possible.”
Nelson says, “1000 Friends has warned from the begin-
ning that large amounts of public subsidies would likely be
needed because the Goshen site has so many challenges.”
She adds, “The truth is going to continue to come out in
bits and pieces: Despite the prior assurances, the reality is
that Goshen will almost surely demand a high level of pub-
lic sacrifi ce. The sooner the public fully understands that
eventually the county will probably try to put their money
on the line, the better.”
When Stewart was asked by the ENR committee,
“What do your constituents think of that? Have you talked
to them?” about a countywide fee to redevelop Goshen,
Stewart said he had not.
A hearing on the Goshen rezoning is scheduled for 1:30
pm March 19 at Harris Hall. More information can be
found at wkly.ws/1fr — Camilla Mortensen
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CONTINUED P. 11 >>>
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